City's consumers urged to support only sustainable fishing
Hong Kong's huge demand for fish, often obtained by using unsustainable methods such as cyanide fishing, has destroyed the natural habitat for coral and fish in Indonesia and the Philippines, a coral reef expert said yesterday.
Thomas Goreau, president of the Global Coral Reef Alliance, a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of coral reefs, urged Hong Kong to support fishing in countries that use sustainable methods.
'Hong Kong is a major market for fisheries products. Almost all the fish supplied to Hong Kong is caught by cyanide fishing. The Hong Kong market has destroyed [the natural habitat for corals] in Indonesia and the Philippines,' Dr Goreau said.
'You can stop the fishing but the fish will not come back if there is no coral or habitat for them.'
Dr Goreau is due to fly to the Philippines, from where he has helped local communities restore their shoreline through a process called Biorock, invented by colleague Wolf Hilbertz.
The Biorock process involves inserting steel frames into the seabed and charging them with a low-voltage electrical current to prevent the steel from rusting. Over time, the rods attract minerals in the water to grow limestone. Coral can also be grown using the same method and Dr Goreau said he had helped many communities restore their coral reefs and shorelines using this method. He said the process could be fuelled by solar power, chargers, batteries or even waves.